Carter's Treasure (22 page)

She turned back to face him, her fingertips on the cross. Carter reached up with his thumb to wipe the tears rolling down her cheeks.

It was so surreal for her. In such a short amount of time, her life had changed so drastically. She always knew it could. Hell, in their sport you could be fine and walking one minute, then lying in a hospital the next. She lived with that knowledge every time she got on the bike. But to think about her life changing outside of riding, outside of bikes at all. To think that she’d become so attached to the man in front of her it felt like her next breath depended on his presence—that was frightening and exhilarating at the same time.

Carter watched as Molly continued to touch the cross against her neck. The simple, dainty cross on a short chain was perfect for her. He’d wanted to give her something—something that she could wear and think of him when they were apart.

He pulled her onto his lap, taking in the way her face was beaming at him. She was so sweet and so full of love. He couldn’t believe he was so lucky to find her.

“Do you know how much I adore you?”

Molly smiled so sweetly, his heart melted. “I do.”

Those two words rang loud in his ears and suddenly he was very aware. Carter could see clearly he was holding his future wife, he could see his future in his arms.

“Oh God, Gorgeous, I love you.”

~

Molly had her fingers laced with Carter’s and as they walked to her motorhome, swinging their hands between them. She felt so light, carefree, and to be totally girly—she was completely in love. She’d never been given a piece of jewelry before, at least not something that wasn’t from James or Karen. They were overly generous when it came to buying her things. She reached up to her neck again. This was different—this necklace meant so much to her. He could have given her a ring from a bubblegum machine, she didn’t care. Anything from Carter was priceless.

The door to their motorhome was closed and a white envelope was taped to it. She pulled it off and opened the door.

“Where is everyone?” She looked around, only to find Erin inside.

“Um…they were just chatting with George. You know, catching up, since it’d been awhile since they’d seen him.”

Molly raised an eyebrow at Erin. That was a story to sell someone else. They’d kept in touch with George all the time. Hell, he was the reason she was doing the preshow. Molly had wanted to introduce Carter in a way that was a little bit more normal than before. She shrugged at Carter, knowing he had to get to his test before long.

She slipped open the envelope in her hand. Opening the weird looking letter, she gasped at the first word—bitch. She had Carter’s attention and he grabbed the letter from her in one hand and instinctively put his other arm around her waist.

“What the hell is this?” He held the letter up to Erin.

“Where was that?” Her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open.

“Taped to the door.”

“Oh, shit.” Erin grabbed the cell sitting by her on the table. “Come here, now!”

Molly watched Erin nod, her facial expressions all over the board. Panic, anger, fear, and back to anger. “No, now. We just got one, here.”

“Erin, what’s going on?” Carter asked before Molly could form the words. Her mind was reeling. Carter had ripped the note from her hands before she’d read more than a few of the letters taped to the plain white piece of paper. But even with little to go on, she could tell it was a threat.

Carter’s hold on her had gotten tighter and more possessive. At the moment, she didn’t want it any other way.

The door flew open and James, Karen, Brody, George, and Joey all charged in. Molly watched as Carter instantly held the note out for James’s inspection.

“Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?” Molly’s voice was desperate.

Carter swept her into both his arms, waiting for an answer.

Chapter Twelve

“Are you okay, baby girl?” James crossed to her after reading the letter. He bent his knees slightly to look in her eyes and ran his knuckles over her cheek.

Molly looked at the man she’d loved almost half her life. He’d been there for her, helped put her back together when they’d found her broken. James had protected her with a fierceness only rivaled by wild animals. She clung to Carter, but leaned into James’s hand, a show of love for him as well.

“I’d be better if I knew what the hell was going on.”

Carter pressed her against him, and she felt the strength of his hold in the palms spread over her back, the heat from his body burning her, but soothing at the same time. Molly laid her head back against his chest and kept one ear pressed to the beat of his heart, the hammering keeping her calm.

“James? That’s not the first threatening letter you’ve gotten, is it?” Carter’s hands tensed on her back as the question came out.

“We’ve got this, Carter. Don’t worry about it.” Brody’s tone was dismissive. “You can go now.”

“Not this time, Noland. No way.”

Molly knew Carter would avoid arguing with Brody at all costs, but she was so relieved when he stayed. She tightened the hold she had around his waist.

“Stop it, Son. This is getting serious. We’re going to need all the help we can get.” Karen ran a loving hand down Molly’s long hair. “Carter, Molly. Both of you—sit. We’ll fill you in.” She motioned to the kitchen table. Karen waited until Carter passed her, but Molly saw the harsh look her brother received.

Reluctantly, James began. “A few days ago, George called me at the office.”

Carter interrupted James and looked over his shoulder at Brody. “Was that the call you received last Saturday?”

When he didn’t answer, Molly impatiently urged him on. “Well, Brody? Was it?”

Molly watched, but her brother didn’t answer.

Instead, Carter spoke. “I told you that night, I knew something was wrong. I offered to help then, Brody. Damn it. What if she’d been alone this morning when she’d gotten this last note? What then?”

The way her brother was treating her boyfriend was just one of a million things spiraling through her mind at the moment. She was so torn between the love she’d always felt for Brody and wanting to put on a pair of boxing gloves and go at him like the old days. At the moment, she’d do without the gloves.

In some perverse way, Brody being a jackass was helping. If Molly let herself concentrate on that anger and embarrassment, she was able to block out the bigger problem. The one that had a big red X on her head.

Karen rubbed her husband’s arm as the four of them sat around the kitchen table. Molly could see the worry in her eyes, the circles underneath that she’d never seen before. That had Molly more scared than the note. James had twisted two paper napkins into bits and reached for a third, just to keep his hands busy. Molly had witnessed the nervous gesture before, years ago, when she’d been recovering in the hospital. She laughed, but no noise came out, thinking about how something so minor and obscure had stuck with her like that.

She watched the beads of sweat running in random patterns down the bottle of water Erin had placed in front of her. She heard the conversation, heard the words. Most of them weren’t sinking in. Carter had one arm around her shoulders, the other on her thigh under the table. Every so often, one or both hands would squeeze her in silent encouragement.

“So there have been a total of five notes, right?” Carter asked.

“No.” James shook his head. “Four notes and one phone call from someone who overheard a conversation that someone overheard and so on. They called George, but with such hearsay, there wasn’t anything we could do but hope it was a rumor.”

“But the notes, they’re all like this one? Why go to the trouble of cutting and pasting magazine letters on copy paper? It just seems weird. Unless…maybe whoever is doing this has very recognizable handwriting. Like another rider?”

“Like a girl,” Molly mumbled to herself, completely unaware she’d even said anything out loud as she peeled the label off her bottle.

James smacked the table with both palms, sending Molly about out of her skin. “I’ll be damned.”

Brody spoke for the first time in a long while, his face questioning, but a realization dawning, “Do you think?”

“I think it sure as hell opens up a new direction to look. Up until now, the police have had very little to go on back home.”

“The first three were mailed to the house, right?” Molly felt Carter’s shoulder jerk as he looked toward Joey when he began to speak. “So…obviously it’s personal. Molly hasn’t competed in over two years. She always raced clean, was always way out front, basically with no competition. So I think we really can rule out a racer. As for freestyle, that group was so laid back I just don’t see any of them doing this. Again, too much time has passed, there’s not some big competition coming up. You haven’t set out to reclaim gold again. There’s no reason. Plus, honestly, Mol, I don’t see why anybody that is still competing would be willing to risk it all to go to jail when they get caught.”

“Joe’s right, baby girl, if it’s a woman, it’s somebody that is jealous of you, a crazy stalker fan who wants what you have, something. Or, it’s someone from your past. I don’t really see that as a possibility, though.”

“Or a jealous ex-girlfriend,” Brody said under his breath.

“I don’t have an ex-girlfriend, Brody. Don’t be an ass.”

“Not you, Mol. Funny how the threats started just last week. And when did you two hook up? Oh, that’s right…just last week.”

“Fuck you, Brody.”

It was a gut response. Something she’d never said to anyone close to her. He was over the line, and between his attitude and the situation she was learning about, Molly was about to snap.

“Molly Shea West.” Karen’s voice didn’t raise much, but there was steel to it.

Molly’s eyes went wide. The use of her full name like that was another first, the shock and disappointment on Karen’s face hit Molly straight in the heart.

“I’m sorry, Karen. But I’m sick of that. I told you how he’s been.” Her apology to Karen was every bit sincere, but she continued on, her anger spiking again. Molly waved her hand toward the kitchen counter her brother was leaning against. “That’s exactly how he’s acted. It’s awful and embarrassing, Carter doesn’t deserve it. There’s no reason for it.”

“Brody, that was uncalled for.”

“Oh, Dad, get real. You have to count it as a possibility. I was just the only one to suggest it.”

“Even so, I haven’t dated anyone in over a year. I’d be more than happy to supply the police with any names and contact information, though. I’ve got nothing to hide and I don’t see any of the women I’ve ever dated doing something like this. I’ve had no bad endings, but again, I’ll do whatever it takes,” Carter said, looking at James.

“So what do you think we should do in the meantime, James?” George asked. “I think we should call the preshow until this is resolved.”

“No.” Molly whipped her head to see the seriousness in George’s face. “I’m not going to let someone interfere with my job.”

“Molly, honey, you know you don’t have to work this hard. We’ve told you that for years.” Karen stretched her hands across the table to take Molly’s.

Molly looked at Karen, pleading for her to understand. “I’m not a little girl anymore, I have to make a living, and riding is it. I can’t live off of you forever, and this is all I know.” She shrugged and gave the familiar line. “It’s like I always say, at least I’m riding the bikes and not posing naked on them.”

Carter snickered and Molly let out a snort. She forgot he’d never heard her say that. Even with Karen’s eye roll, that split-second of humor was refreshing, even if it didn’t last.

“That’s not why you don’t want to cancel.” Molly glanced across the table at James and waited for him to finish. “It’s because you’re a stubborn little shit and you never back down from anything…even if it’s the right thing to do.”

“Would you want me any other way?”

“I didn’t raise a quitter or a doormat, did I?” James’s face was conflicted half scared to death, half proud.

“Nope.” The corner of Molly’s mouth turned up, the grin never quite made it though.

“Well, the police seem to agree with you, for now anyway. If we can lure whoever this is out, they’ll be able to catch them. In the meantime, we come up with the best scenario possible to keep you safe. I want you surrounded at all times. No arguments, little girl.”

Carter kissed her shoulder. “She’s not leaving my side.”

Carter hadn’t let Molly out of his sight since their conversation that morning. When he went to sound testing, she went with him. When he had to meet with his manager, she went with him. Her mother seemed to understand his need to protect her. They all needed to, but Karen saw what the two of them had together. She had been giving him silent signs of approval all day, a wink here, a nod there, smiling when she caught him squeezing Molly to his side.

James hadn’t said much. There had been some mild laughter and joking about off the wall stuff, but as far as Molly and he were concerned, James was watching them from a short distance. Carter could tell his every move, every comment was dissected. He didn’t care. He would go to the ends of the earth to prove to her dad that he was worthy.